Mix With Your Ears, Not Your Eyes

[alphacat]

Just finished reading another production book and one of the interviewees pointed out something that folks producing on computers sometimes tend to do, and that is mixing with their eyes after a while instead of their ears - like looking at an EQ curve and based solely on the shape saying, "Oh, that's too hot, let's roll that off" or looking at spectral analysis and saying, "why there's nothing in this spot over here; let's visually re-EQ a track element to cram it in there." In fact, one of the name producers that did a Q&A a while ago basically said he monitored his mixdowns solely off the freq. analyzing graphic!

So this is something I'm gonna work on, because I'm definitely somewhat guilty of this from time to time. It all begins and ends with your ears people; while visualization is a helpful tool, it can never replace the faculty that created the music or for which the music is destined to arrive at.

And that's one to grow on!

[sixth sense]

going to take this into consideration good post bruv

[deadly_habit]

yea trust your ears over your eyes all day
same should go to all the serato/traktor djs for the other kind of mixing who spend more time looking at the waveforms on their screen rather then learning their tunes

[Echoi]

Edit haha, didnt read op properly

[Sinisterbeats]

very true although being a Reason user I dont really have any visual guides anyway.

[alphacat]

very true although being a Reason user I dont really have any visual guides anyway.

It could be said that this might be something of an advantage to Reason, actually. Even with pattern sequencers though there can be a tendency to make a beat that's visually symmetrical and appealing but sounds bad...

Regardless of the DAW, it's simply a matter of closing your eyes from time to time and just listening. Listening is kind of like exercise in that most people have to get warmed up a bit before the ol' ears are really at their best. Also like exercise is the fact that your ears get tired after a while [hearing fatigue] and need rest.

It's funny how easy it is to take for granted what's really the most important part of music... hearing the sound.

[paravrais]

very true although being a Reason user I dont really have any visual guides anyway.

This.

I think my mixdowns are one of my strongest points production wise and that's at least partly due to learning on Reason where a: you have to really grind to get it to sound decent and b: you have no visual aids whatsoever. Even the EQs blatantly lie about where your cutting things XD so you learn to use only your ears.

There is a flipside to it though, the compressor in Reason is shit (though the one in the record mixer is nice, not upgraded to Reason 5 yet so maybe it's decent now) so when I moved into Ableton I had little to no knowledge about compressors and I'm still much hazier on them than I should be I think. Also because I was used to riding everything like a bitch in Reason when I came to Ableton I had a period where I really over EQ'd everything cos that was what I was used to. It soon clicked that you can let things breathe a lot more than you think though...

[AxeD]

yea trust your ears over your eyes all day
same should go to all the serato/traktor djs for the other kind of mixing who spend more time looking at the waveforms on their screen rather then learning their tunes

I tend to do both, but maybe that's because my monitors are kind of wack. Working on it though.

[Sinisterbeats]

I definitely find closing my eyes and really listening for anything thats slighty stands out or needs turning down in the mix helps. It helps you just focus on the music and try and imagine its the first time youve heard it and what youd think about it if it was a first time listen.

[alphacat]

I definitely find closing my eyes and really listening for anything thats slighty stands out or needs turning down in the mix helps. It helps you just focus on the music and try and imagine its the first time youve heard it and what youd think about it if it was a first time listen.

I totally try to get into that first-time-listen headspace all the time when I'm listening to what I'm making. It can be hit or miss though.

[paravrais]

I definitely find closing my eyes and really listening for anything thats slighty stands out or needs turning down in the mix helps. It helps you just focus on the music and try and imagine its the first time youve heard it and what youd think about it if it was a first time listen.

+79 for closing your eyes!!

[deadly_habit]

yep also rendering it to a wav and listening in headphones just before you go to sleep or just have woken up i find works a treat as the majority of your senses aren't being overloaded with info

[karmacazee]

It's what this button is for!



Minimize ur DAW and listen, it's amazing what jumps out at you instantly. I usually find it helps doing that when programming beats too, helps you hear the flow better.

[paravrais]

It's what this button is for!



Minimize ur DAW and listen, it's amazing what jumps out at you instantly. I usually find it helps doing that when programming beats too, helps you hear the flow better.

I've got a swively computer chair so I just spin round and close my eyes facing the opposite wall while it plays XD

[deadly_habit]

my bed is my chair, so i just lay back and close my eyes XD

[jsills]

^ i lay down and close my eyes and just listen and that can make problems in the mix very apparent

[macc]

Make a keyboard shortcut that totally blanks the monitors. It's amazing what a difference it makes.

Ctrl-Alt-End

[therapist]

Deadly kickin' it old school.

[deadly_habit]

more like between turntables, racks, records, mic stand and other crap there's no room for a chair, let alone walking space

[Sharmaji]

when listening back to more than just 8 bars at a time, I always like to turn around and not look at any sort of audio gear-- seriously, not staring at the DAW screen, or even SEEING the monitors, helps put things into perspective-- which can get lost after a 12 hour writing day.